Christian Bale Focuses On Process, Not Reward, With Acting Path

Hostiles is an 1892 Western about Army Capt. Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), a brave and emotionally scarred man who is forced to escort a dying war chief (Wes Studi) and his family back to their tribal land. Bale reunites with Out of the Furnace filmmaker Scott Cooper for the project which, amidst all of its violence, calls for a deeper recognition of different cultures.

Films like The Promise and Hostiles feature subtle social themes within its narrative, and Bale believes cinematic storytelling can deepen with today’s current social climate. “There’s a larger opportunity happening right now with all of the sexual harassment allegations” said Bale. “The shift in cultural perspective in the war of philosophy about refugees. The whitewashing of casting in movies and you just think of the potential of more interesting dialogue, (along with) with far more fascinating movies if we do finally embrace that (dialogue).”

Click on the media bar to hear Bale discuss what he learned from shooting Hostiles (he mentions Chief Philip Whiteman, who gave Bale insights on the Cheyenne culture, in the clip):